Informative articles on scorpion biology, venom science, production, analytical methods and regulation.
Karl Fischer titration is a chemical method that measures the water in a sample selectively, and it is widely used to measure residual moisture in lyophilized products…
Read MoreA recombinant toxin is a copy of a single scorpion venom peptide produced in the laboratory, independently of the natural source, by transferring its gene into bacteria…
Read MoreDry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide; at about −78.5 °C it turns directly into gas and is a common coolant for shipping frozen samples. In transport it is classed…
Read MorePatch clamp is an electrophysiology method that measures the tiny currents flowing through ion channels in the cell membrane. This article explains the principle of the…
Read MoreThe short answer is no: scorpions are not insects. Although they belong to the same phylum, the arthropods, they are placed with spiders, ticks and mites in the class of…
Read MoreScorpions are considered long-lived among arthropods: most species are reported to live for several years, and in some large, slow-growing species the lifespan can…
Read MoreThere are approved medicines that were developed starting from animal venoms; to our knowledge, however, none of them was developed from scorpion venom. Scorpion…
Read MoreKnowledge Guide
Referenced, easy-to-follow guides covering everything from species to venom extraction and from laboratory methods to transport regulations. Use the search box or the categories.
Karl Fischer titration is a chemical method that measures the water in a sample selectively, and it is widely used to measure residual moisture in…
A recombinant toxin is a copy of a single scorpion venom peptide produced in the laboratory, independently of the natural source, by transferring its…
Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide; at about −78.5 °C it turns directly into gas and is a common coolant for shipping frozen samples. In…
Patch clamp is an electrophysiology method that measures the tiny currents flowing through ion channels in the cell membrane. This article explains…
The short answer is no: scorpions are not insects. Although they belong to the same phylum, the arthropods, they are placed with spiders, ticks and…
Scorpions are considered long-lived among arthropods: most species are reported to live for several years, and in some large, slow-growing species…
There are approved medicines that were developed starting from animal venoms; to our knowledge, however, none of them was developed from scorpion…
Although scorpion and snake venoms are popularly called by the same name, they are different mixtures. Small peptides that target ion channels…
LD50 is the dose expected to cause death in half of the test animals when given once under defined conditions, and it summarizes acute toxicity in a…
A chemical assessment expert (KDU) is the professional defined by Türkiye's KKDİK Regulation who handles work ranging from classifying chemicals to…
Scorpion venom is traded in milligrams and grams, not litres. The literature reports an average of about 0.3 mg of venom per scorpion per milking, so…
Scorpions do not hibernate in the mammalian sense; in the cold months they cut their activity to a minimum and wait in shelters such as under stones…
Androctonus turkiyensis was described in 2021 as a thick-tailed scorpion species of the family Buthidae. This article covers the species' place in systematics…
Water in crude venom is the greatest risk to peptide structure. Lyophilization removes water by sublimation, without heating, and turns the sample…
CITES regulates international trade in wild species through three appendices and also covers parts and derivatives of species. The article explains what the appendices mean…
Scorpion venom is not a single substance but a mixture ranging from peptides that target ion channels to enzymes. The article explains where the secretion is produced, which…
HPLC is the fundamental analytical method for separating a complex mixture into its components. The article covers how the system works, the hydrophobicity logic of reversed-phase separation…
Venom extraction is the controlled collection of secretion from the gland in the scorpion's telson. The article compares the methods used and explains why electrical stimulation…
A safety data sheet is a document that sets out the hazards of a chemical and the conditions for its safe use in a standard layout. The article introduces the sixteen…
The scorpion's body is studied in three parts: the prosoma, mesosoma and metasoma. The article covers the organs in each part and structures unique to scorpions such as the pectines and book…
The alpha-KTx family comprises the short-chain, disulfide-rich peptides found in scorpion venom. The article explains the mechanism by which these peptides block potassium channels…
SDS-PAGE is the fundamental electrophoresis method for separating proteins by molecular weight. The article covers the role of the detergent and the gel, the two-layer gel setup…
Closed-cycle breeding means sourcing material from a population kept within the facility rather than from individuals collected in the wild. The article explains why this approach…
The GHS06 pictogram is the skull and crossbones symbol that marks substances with high acute toxicity. The article covers the meaning of the pictogram, the function of the signal word, H300, H310…
Buthidae is the most species-rich family in the scorpion order and includes most of the genera of medical importance. The article covers the family's…
Kv1 channels are voltage-gated potassium channels that regulate the electrical balance across the cell membrane. The article covers the naming logic of the family, Kv1.1, Kv1.2 and…
UV-Vis spectrophotometry measures how much light a solution absorbs at different wavelengths. The article covers the working principle of the method, its use in protein measurement…
Temperature and humidity directly affect the feeding, development and health of a scorpion colony kept indoors. The article explains why these two variables…
UN 3462 is the transport number used for solid toxins obtained from living sources. The article explains what the number signifies, what the proper shipping name…
Türkiye is rich in scorpion diversity because it brings together different climate zones. The article covers the families represented in the fauna…
Sodium channel toxins are the long-chain peptide group of scorpion venom and alter the way the channels underlying nerve conduction work…
Protein concentration is calculated from a standard curve built with known concentrations. The article explains why the curve is needed, how the standard series…
Lyophilization is a drying method that removes water by first freezing it and then converting the ice directly into vapour under low pressure. The article covers the physical…
ADR, the IMDG Code and air transport rules govern the carriage of dangerous goods by road, sea and air. The article sets out what the three regulations have in common…
Scorpions glow a distinct blue-green under long-wave ultraviolet light. The article covers the physics of fluorescence, the compounds thought to be responsible for the glow…
The difference between venom and poison lies less in the chemistry of the substance than in its route of delivery. The article covers the criterion for the distinction and related terms such as toxin, toxungen and toxicant…
A chromatogram is a graph that plots the detector signal against time and summarizes the result of a chromatography run. The article covers the axes, dead time…
The cold chain is the uninterrupted process that keeps a temperature-sensitive sample within a defined temperature range from production to use…
Setting up a scorpion breeding facility involves a series of complementary permits issued by different institutions. The article covers the institutions involved and, from the application…
Scorpions reproduce through indirect sperm transfer and live birth. The article covers the mating dance, the spermatophore deposited on the ground, gestation and birth, and how the young ride on the mother's…
Disulfide bridges are covalent bonds formed between two cysteine residues, and they give the small peptides in scorpion venom exceptional stability…
Mass spectrometry is an analytical method used to identify peptides by measuring their mass and sequence information. The article covers ionization and…
Any foreign matter that gets into the sample during extraction comes back as an artefact in later analyses. The article covers the main sources of contamination, working…
REACH in the European Union and KKDİK in Türkiye govern the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals. The article sets out the two frameworks'…
Scorpions are predators that feed on live prey, and much of their digestion begins outside the mouth. The article covers how prey is detected and captured, liquid…
Crude venom is a starting material in laboratory research and is mostly studied after being separated into its components. The article covers the material's research…
pH is one of the basic measurements that indicates the acidity of a solution and directly affects protein behaviour. The article covers the principle of the measurement, calibration…
The batch number is the link that brings together all the steps behind a venom sample under a single identity. The article covers how a batch is defined, which records…
When working with a highly toxic material, protective equipment is the last link in the chain of precautions. The article covers how exposure routes are identified…
Scorpions can live in arid environments, but they cannot live without water. The article covers how water is obtained from prey and the environment, the cuticle and excretion…
Chlorotoxin is a small peptide isolated from a scorpion venom and studied for more than thirty years. The article covers how the peptide was identified…
A certificate of analysis is a document that gives the measurement results of a batch together with its identifying details. The article covers how the certificate differs from the safety data sheet…
Packaging is a layered protection that determines the venom's contact with moisture, light and the container surface. The article covers primary container options, the role of the cap and seal…
Exporting a biological material in a hazardous class requires document preparation as much as physical preparation. The article covers the shipping file's commercial…
Because scorpions have a hard exoskeleton, they grow not continuously but in steps, shedding their old exoskeleton at each step. The article covers moulting…
Antivenom is a biological medicine made of antibodies that bind to the toxic components of venom, and its production chain starts with a defined venom. The article…
The value of a measurement depends as much on who performed it as on the result itself. The article covers the difference between first-, second- and third-party measurement, independent…
For a single-component chemical, purity is expressed as a percentage; for crude venom containing dozens of components, the same concept answers different questions. The article…
In the inter-institutional supply of a highly toxic material, responsibility does not end at delivery; it passes to the buyer. The article covers the research and industrial use only…
Scorpions enter homes not to seek out people but to find shelter, coolness and prey. The article covers the conditions that attract scorpions and, in the garden and on the outer shell of the house…
Even a dried and frozen venom changes over time; what matters is knowing the rate of that change and slowing it down. The article covers the chemical and…
Peptide sequences appear in reports as a long string of letters, each representing an amino acid. The article covers the one-letter code system's…
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